Petshark: Talking Stick

Entries with the tag: alex stalock

The Worcester Sharks had a lukewarm weekend. Perhaps it was closer to tepid. They lost two of three games in three days. Friday they played at Providence, scoring first but losing 3-1. That first goal was a short handed tally by Marek Viendensky, at 19:15 of the second period. It held up until the mid-point of the third period when the Bruins tied the game. The Bruins scored two more in the last three minutes of the third, including an empty netter. The final SOG count was 23-19 Bruins, Alex Stalock made 20 saves.

The Worcester Sharks started the weekend badly but it ended well. Friday they lost at home, 7-2 to the Manchester Monarchs. Worcester goals were scored by Matt Tennyson (PPG, Irwin, Kearns) and Jon Matsumoto (Kearns, Doherty). Harri Sateri made 24 saves on 31 shots. The power play went 1/3, the penalty kill 4/5. Everyone who suited up for the Monarchs scored, so I'm going to skip them. (Not really, only 1/3 of them not counting the goalie, and even he got an assist. I'm still skipping them. If you really must see the scoring carnage, go to the AHL site.)

As mentioned, things got better from there, with the Sharks winning Saturday 4-1, again at home, this time against the Portland Pirates. Worcester goals were scored by: Danny Groulx (Tennyson, Oleksuk), Bracken Kearns(13) (SHG, McCarthy), Jimmy Bonneau(1), Matt Tennyson(5) (Livingston, Viedensky). Worcester's power play was an abysmal 0/6, but their penalty kill was perfect at 6/6. Stalock made 36 saves for the win. His shutout was spoiled in the third period by Portland's Phil Lane(5) (Klinkhammer). For Portland, Mike Lee made 11 saves on 14 shots, and Louis Domingue made 22 saves on 23 shots.

The Worcester Sharks played three road games last weekend, but only won one. Friday, their seven power plays went scoreless against the Springfield Falcons (AHL affiliates of the Blue Jackets). The Sharks killed seven of eight penalties. The lone goal for the Sharks was scored by Daniil Tarasov, with assists to Danny Groulx and Adam Comrie. It was Tarasov's fifth of the season. Harri Sateri made 27 saves on 29 shots. LW Tommy Grant and defenseman Denny Urban were second to Tarasov in shots on goal, with four each.

Saturday, the Sharks traveled to Glenns Falls to play the Adirondack Phantoms (AHL affiliate of the Flyers). They came away from that with a 3-2 win. They scored on one of their two power plays, and killed four of five penalties. Sharks goals were scored by Jon Matsumoto (PPG, Kearns, Urban), John McCarthy (Hamilton, Viedensky), and Freddie Hamilton (Groulx, McCarthy). Alex Stalock made 26 saves on 28 shots for the win.

When Sharks training camp opened in September, there was a growing optimism. Stalock skated for the first time. He slowly worked up to a rehab stint with Stockton, a minor league affiliate for the Sharks and Edmonton Oilers, making his return on Jan. 21. -Mercury News

It’s a very good story about a player and a recovery that is just this side of miraculous. Yet Emmons doesn’t mention the name of the minor league. Sigh.

The league’s name is sort of like Ulysses S Grant’s middle name: just initials. Unlike Grant, the league does have a proper name where the initials are: East Coast Hockey League, but nobody out here calls it that. It’s one of those names that tells you where someone came from but not what or where they are now. “Taylor,” for example: once upon a time, someone in that family was a tailor, probably in England. The odds are pretty slim that this person is actually a tailor in England now.

Last night, Benn Ferriero took one shot, got one point, and Antti Niemi blanked the Flames. No, Niemi didn’t do it by himself, but he gets the special credit for it.

Ferriero’s been kind of quiet lately, but last night he made an effort to point out the obvious: if you can’t hit the target, you need to get closer.

@SharksStats: Benn Ferriero’s 4th career game-winning goal, 3rd this season. All 3 GW goals this season in road games.

The lone goal of the game was Ferriero’s sixth of the season. It was the only shot he took, if you believe the shot counters, and he took it at point blank range. I think that might qualify as a teachable moment. Sounds like McLellan thinks so too:

“We’ve got to get a little hungrier in and around the net, much like the winning goal tonight.” -Mercury News

It was just one goal. It was the Flames. The Flames have been better lately, but they’re still the Flames.

When you know someone has been hurt, you watch them differently than you would watch someone you assume to be healthy. Any little misstep will be cause for doubt. Considering the gravity of the injury sustained by Alex Stalock last season, I think it’s nothing short of a miracle that I only noticed one misstep this morning. He wore lower pads only. I’m no expert and I don’t know how his leg feels but it looked like both legs were doing what he told them to. Between exercises, he tossed the puck around, hitting the wall, and shooting at both nets. Part of me thought “Dude! Don’t even play around with putting the puck in your own net!” But having fun is good for healing, so he should do whatever amuses him for now.